Rajiv Maragh

[ateamstupid]

I have to disagree that his ride was "mind-bogglingly incompetent." His hand was forced once Dominguez decided not to press Quality Road for who knows what reason. Rajiv couldn't have known that QR was going to come back to the field like he did, and the fractions were soft, so he pressed the pace. The wideness certainly hurt him, but other than that, I don't see his ride as terrible.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

I have to disagree that his ride was "mind-bogglingly incompetent." His hand was forced once Dominguez decided not to press Quality Road for who knows what reason. Rajiv couldn't have known that QR was going to come back to the field like he did, and the fractions were soft, so he pressed the pace. The wideness certainly hurt him, but other than that, I don't see his ride as terrible.

When Dominguez decided not to press Quality Road from the outset - Margah basically took his horse out of his game and do it.

That results in him being 2 paths wider than QR the whole way around the first turn - and 3 paths wider than Blame .. meaning he's giving away 3 lengths in ground loss to Quality Road and 4.5 lengths to Blame while riding the ears off of a horse who couldn't hold off Sumo the last time he was that close to the pace.

On the backstretch - he puts Dominguez in a box and starts race riding him ... Haynesfield's a 12/1 shot who broke through the gate pre-start - and he's treating him like he's Cigar or something. Dominguez has to get shoulder to shoulder and pushes Musket Man out to get out of the box on the turn .. while Musket Man's getting shoved out he's about a path and a half wider than Quality Road on the far turn ... and Gomez's had a flawless ground saving ride in behind him while Quality Road's had a dream trip in front of him.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

When Dominguez decided not to press Quality Road from the outset - Margah basically took his horse out of his game and do it.

That results in him being 2 paths wider than QR the whole way around the first turn - and 3 paths wider than Blame .. meaning he's giving away 3 lengths in ground loss to Quality Road and 4.5 lengths to Blame while riding the ears off of a horse who couldn't hold off Sumo the last time he was that close to the pace.

On the backstretch - he puts Dominguez in a box and starts race riding him ... Haynesfield's a 12/1 shot who broke through the gate pre-start - and he's treating him like he's Cigar or something. Dominguez has to get shoulder to shoulder and pushes Musket Man out to get out of the box on the turn .. while Musket Man's getting shoved out he's about a path and a half wider than Quality Road on the far turn ... and Gomez's had a flawless ground saving ride in behind him while Quality Road's had a dream trip in front of him.

Once Haynesfield didn't go after Quality Road, Musket Man's chance at winning dissipated no matter what. So he either had to sit off the pace, hope that QR came back to him (seemed extremely unlikely at the time) and that he could outclose Blame. Or, he could do what he did, press QR into submission and try to get first run on Blame. No matter what, he wasn't going to win the race the way it set up, so I think harsh criticism of his ride is a little excessive.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Once Haynesfield didn't go after Quality Road, Musket Man's chance at winning dissipated no matter what. So he either had to sit off the pace, hope that QR came back to him (seemed extremely unlikely at the time) and that he could outclose Blame. Or, he could do what he did, press QR into submission and try to get first run on Blame. No matter what, he wasn't going to win the race the way it set up, so I think harsh criticism of his ride is a little excessive.

I don't agree. Musket Man absolutely wins that race if he lets Quality Road and Haynesfield go .. and I say that even knowing that a pace battle between the two wasn't going to develop.

If Gomez rode Blame the way Margah rode Musket Man - Blame would have been beaten a significant margin.

I get your point that his chance of winning appeared to be 0% when Dominguez opted to use passive tactics. But that doesn't mean he needed to act as a rabbit for Blame and Mine That Bird.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

When Dominguez decided not to press Quality Road from the outset - Margah basically took his horse out of his game and do it.

That results in him being 2 paths wider than QR the whole way around the first turn - and 3 paths wider than Blame .. meaning he's giving away 3 lengths in ground loss to Quality Road and 4.5 lengths to Blame while riding the ears off of a horse who couldn't hold off Sumo the last time he was that close to the pace.

On the backstretch - he puts Dominguez in a box and starts race riding him ... Haynesfield's a 12/1 shot who broke through the gate pre-start - and he's treating him like he's Cigar or something. Dominguez has to get shoulder to shoulder and pushes Musket Man out to get out of the box on the turn .. while Musket Man's getting shoved out he's about a path and a half wider than Quality Road on the far turn ... and Gomez's had a flawless ground saving ride in behind him while Quality Road's had a dream trip in front of him.

To quote your GURU Beyer (or any number of his disciples)

"There are NO TRIP in SLOW (PACED) Races"

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

To quote your GURU Beyer (or any number of his disciples)

"There are NO TRIP in SLOW (PACED) Races"

I've never met Beyer - how I'm a guru of his I have absolutely no idea at all what you mean.

First of all - yes, there are trips in slow paced races. Whoever said there isn't is nuts.

Second of all - the pace wasn't all that slow. The pace figure was only 9 points slower than the final figure. I would call it a moderate pace in relation to final time.